RHS portlet MHH - Join HH

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RHS portlet MHH - who's who

Who's who

Find out who's who in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services

RHS portlet MHH - Glossary

Glossary

Don't know what that word means?

Take a look in our glossary

RHS portlet MHH - what yp found helps

What young people have found helps them

Research and tests are useful, but it won’t tell us everything. Here are some positive things that young people say help them when they are feeling sad or worried.

  • Talking to their pet
  • Eating nice food or chocolate
  • Having a hug
  • Listening to music
  • Writing things down
  • Go for a run
  • Make a list of all the things to look forward to in the future

What we think

We agree that there are things that we can all do to help ourselves. Having a good diet, exercise, and feeling that people understand and care for us can all help. But, there might be times when we need more help.

 

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ADHD

ADHD stands for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and usually means you find it difficult to concentrate for long periods of time.

Some of the signs of ADHD are:

  • Feeling restless, fidgety or overactive very often
  • Talking a lot and often interrupting people
  • Being easily distracted when you are meant to be doing something
  • Finding it hard to concentrate for very long
  • Being impulsive and suddenly doing or saying things without thinking

Other difficulties you might hear of

You might also have heard of ADD. This stands for Attention Deficit Disorder, and is similar to ADHD but means that you don’t have the extra hyperactivity or jumpy energy. However, you can still find it hard to concentrate on stuff.

You might also hear of hyperkinetic disorder, which is like serious ADHD (see the YoungMinds page on ADHD for more info).

There is no test for ADHD, so a specially trained person such as a psychiatrist, or paediatrician will talk to you and your parents about your difficulties. They may also ask you to fill in a questionnaire.

This will all help them find out what your difficulties are. They should then talk to you and your family about the best ways to help you. You and your family’s thoughts and concerns should be taken seriously by the person who is trying to help you.

The NICE guidance outlines the main types of help that have been shown to help most people with ADHD.

Diet and Exercise

Having a good varied, diet, and taking regular exercise will help. 
When you talk to your doctor about your difficulties, they should ask you and your family whether any type of food or drink makes you behave differently.

If it does, then you and your parents should keep a food diary. This will help you find out whether a type of food or drink is making you behave differently.

For instance, some people become hyperactive after they have fizzy drinks.
NICE guidance says that taking food supplements (vitamins) or Omega 3 oils, such as fish oils, or cod liver oil hasn’t been shown to help people with ADHD.

What do we think?

 If you do change your diet you should get some advice from your doctor or a dietician.  They can help you and your family work out what a good balanced diet is for you and ensure you don't cut out any essential food.

Vitamins and other supplements may not be recommended by NICE, but as long as you follow the advice on the packets, they might help you in other ways.

Types of Help

The type of help will depend on your age.

Children under five

Children under five should not be given medicine or tablets for ADHD. Parents or carers should be given help and support so they understand your difficulties and so can help you.

Children over five

If you are over five, your parents should also be helped to understand your difficulties and so can help you.

You may be offered a type of help where a few children with similar problems talk with a therapists about their difficulties, get tips on how to live with their difficulties, and tips on how to get on better with other people.

Teenagers

If you are a teenager, you may be offered similar help, but on a one-to-one basis with a therapist. If none of the above work, you may be offered medicine. You should also be offered all of the help already mentioned and not just take the medicine.

If your difficulties are really serious and are affecting your life, then you will be offered medicine. You should only be offered medicine by someone who is a specialist in ADHD. This probably won’t be your GP, but might be your psychiatrist.

Before you are given medicine, the person who is helping you should talk to you about whether you have any other health problems. They should carry out routine tests such as checking your blood pressure. This is to try and make sure that the medicine won’t cause other health problems.

Your parents should also be offered help and support so that they can help you.

Medicines

You or your parents may have heard lots of stories about the medicines that help people with ADHD. It is a very strong medicine, and some people think it works really well, and others don’t think that it works any better than other types of help.

Some people don’t think that children and young people should be given this medicine, because it is very strong, and we don’t know for sure how it will affect children and young people as they grow up.

What do we think?

Medicines can really help some people, especially if they are finding that their difficulties are really affecting their home and school life.

But, it should not be given to you unless you really need it and it should be part of a package of help.

If you have to take it you should be regularly checked by your doctor to make sure that you are alright and so see whether it is helping you.

Further Information


*What is NICE?
NICE stands for the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. It is an organisation which gives people advice about health and treatment.

 

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